


Come Home

by pepperBubble



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 09:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4096171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepperBubble/pseuds/pepperBubble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve had already lost Bucky once, he was determined to bring him home and never lose him again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Home

Steve almost had him. So many times he had been close to finding him and yet when it seemed so, he was gone and it would be weeks- possibly months- before Steve got another lead on a possible location. 

He was searching for The Winter Soldier. He knew that deep down his Bucky was still there; he saw it, even for a fraction of a second, on the helicarrier before he fell into the water. He could see that the man he was fighting was not a cold blooded assassin out to kill him and that somewhere in there he was still his best friend. Since then he hadn't seen him since and Steve had already lost Bucky once, he was determined to bring him home and never lose him again. 

It was difficult to begin with. He had the help of Sam (and Natasha when she could be of assistance) and through hard work and sheer luck, the two of them found themselves travelling around the world on their search; Germany, Ukraine, and at one point Steve even found himself back in Brooklyn in the hopes Bucky would be there giving him a literal sign that he was there because he wanted Steve to find him. Each time however they were met with the same disappointing results and with each disappointing result, they were quickly able to discover an ominous pattern in Bucky's movements. No matter where he was, there always seemed to be a death, whether it was a 'devastating' accident or a death the authorities never treated as suspicious. Wherever Bucky was suspected of being, death followed in his footsteps. 

"Maybe these deaths _are_ to do with him. Maybe he's on a mission that's significant to himself and for the minute we're just unable to understand why he is doing it" Sam suggested in a conversation between him and Steve on the subject of these deaths. 

Sam was probably right, maybe there was a pattern between these suspected appearances and the deaths that followed shortly afterwards. At the moment this was not a significant worry for Steve; all he wanted was to bring Bucky home and then somewhere down the line he would ask him if he was connected to these deaths. It was just extremely frustrating when every single lead they had of finding Bucky always turned into a dead end. 

"It was never going to be simple Steve. He probably doesn't want to be found" Steve could remember Natasha bringing up after another failed attempt of trying to find Bucky. He knew this was going to be difficult, he knew this was no easy task. It wasn't like he was expecting to just turn up somewhere and have Bucky be there waiting for him with open arms. This was a delicate task and Steve knew it was probably going to take a long time until he would be able to complete his mission. Until Steve heard from Bucky himself that he just wanted to be left alone and for Steve to stop looking for him, then he would oblige to those wishes. Until such a time, Steve was not going to believe anything that Natasha or anybody else told him on the matter. 

 

 

It was on his return from yet another failed attempt did Steve notice that something was wrong. Approaching his apartment, the door was open slightly and from the inside he could hear the faint sound of music playing and possibly somebody else shuffling around. The scene was all too familiar of the time when Fury had come to the apartment to hide from those who had initially tried to capture him, except at that time Fury was in Steve's apartment to avoid being caught and whoever it was who broke into the apartment this time was waiting for Steve to return. 

His plan was simple; as long as he kept low, kept his shield close to him, and kept himself hidden, he would have the advantage to incapacitate the intruder before they could do anything to him. His advantage was further heightened creeping into his apartment and finding that the intruder had their back to him. With that care that Steve was taking there was no way he was going to be caught. 

"This is where I shot that guy. Right through the wall, I think" the figure suddenly spoke and Steve recognised the voice immediately. The arm which had his shield raised and ready to strike was lowered and the shield itself left to fall to the floor. 

"And the music... I recognise it from somewhere. We would dance to it a long time ago, but you use to be a lot smaller back then. Well, that's what my mind tells me anyway" 

The figure didn't need to be facing Steve for him to know who it was. He could just tell by the voice that he knew exactly who it was. All he wanted was for the figure to just turn around so that Steve could confirm it was actually Bucky, in his apartment, stood there in front of him and it wasn't just his mind playing a cruel trick on him. 

"Where the hell have you been?" seemed to be the only sentence that Steve could construct at that moment, even becoming surprised when he heard Bucky laugh (albeit quite a hollow and dry laugh) 

"I'm sure you know where I've been. It's you who has been following me everywhere, correct?" he asks and it's only then that he turns around and Steve is able to get his first proper look at Bucky since last seeing him on the helicarrier. His face looked a bit thinner and it looked like he hadn't had a decent shave in a long time, but he still looked the same. 

"Why were you there in the first place?" Steve asks and notices how Bucky's facial expression changes; cold, heartless, it reminds him of The Winter Soldier   
"I was out to get _them_. There are still people out there who work for HYDRA, who are still able to live their lives freely and without a care in the world, yet at the same time they're able to destroy the lives of others. They took me and made me their puppet, they tried to destroy my life and it's because of that I couldn't allow them to continue to live. 

"It was easy to track them down. It was much easier to make their death look like an accident so that nobody got suspicious. It's fascinating how oblivious people can be sometimes, just how quickly they're able to finish an investigation into their deaths and move on. They'll never suspect a thing and I get to carry onto my next destination without having to ever prepare for a situation where I'm at risk of being caught". 

When this was over, Steve made a note to tell Sam that his suspicions were right all along and that the appearances and deaths were not just a coincidence. At present, his concentration remained on Bucky, wanting to find out just why he was here, what it was that he wanted. 

"Sometimes I get these memories, these flashbacks. They're mostly about you"   
"What about me?" Steve asks and holds his breath to see what Bucky says next

"Sometimes we're in an alleyway and I'm helping you in a fight. Other times we're in Germany and London and we're happy, like closer than anybody else alongside us. It always finishes with a train and you're leaning out to get me, you're shouting for Bucky- I take it that's my name- and then you're getting smaller and smaller before everything turns to black" 

Hearing this is enough to overwhelm Steve. Just hearing that Bucky has these flashbacks of them, before and during the war, meant that he was slowly starting to remember. He probably wouldn't be the same Bucky he knew from before but it's enough to comfort Steve and let him know that Bucky is still there, that he's still human and that HYDRA weren't able to completely destroy him. 

"And I saw you, in Ukraine. You were with somebody else and talking about bringing me home, well I think you were talking about me. Bucky? James? They're names you called me"   
"James is your real name. Bucky is sorta like a nickname" Steve clarifies and watches Bucky nod his head. 

"I prefer Bucky" he mutters, clearing his throat before he continues to speak "It took me a while to figure out that you're important to me, well you are but I just haven't quite figured it out yet. My mind, it's still a jumbled mess and I'm still trying to figure out who I really am so for you to say that you want to bring me home is quite bizarre" 

"You're here now. Doesn't that say something?" 

From Steve's observations, laughing and smiling are two actions which Bucky seemingly hasn't carried out for quite a long time. They come out as stiff, hollow and fake. Seeing him smile, it looks like it's foreign territory to Bucky and that he's only doing it to try and keep Steve satisfied. 

"You want to bring me home, I heard you say it, yet I didn't know why. Why would you want someone like me?"   
"You said yourself that I was important to you, you're important to me Bucky. If you wasn't so important, would I have come after you? Searched all this time for you?" 

Something stirred within Bucky hearing those words. Something he hadn't felt in a long time by how strange the feeling was, he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was about Steve's words that was making him feel like so. He couldn't be sure what it was, but he liked what Steve had said and stood there contemplating his words before speaking again. 

"It took me a while to find out if you still lived here, especially after shooting that guy... what I'm trying to say is that you were searching for me and I guess I'm home... I mean, if the offer is still there of course" 


End file.
